Malambo Explosion: Argentine Zapateo Reinvents Itself and Conquers the World

A little less than twenty years ago, an Italian magazine gave the headline of a widely displayed article:

.

And below it expanded: “It comes from Argentina, it's called malambo and it sweeps the nightclubs in Rome, New York, Los Angeles and London.

Melanie Griffith, Antonio Banderas and her colleagues Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher are passionate malambo dancers.

It is an ancient dance, a mixture of tango and flamenco, and is accompanied by the simple sounds of the guitar and the bongo”.

Let's ignore these nonsense (and there are several more in the quoted note) to stay with two ideas: that the word

has an aura, by itself, that exceeds what is truly known about this dance;

and that it is a folkloric dance about which not much is known in Argentina.

No no.

It would be necessary to say how little is known about the malambo in the city of Buenos Aires, because in the rest of the Argentine territory there are thousands of malambi players of all ages devoted passionately to its practice. 

In the air.

Agustín Visetti, malambista from Villa Mercedes (San Luis).

Photo Emmanuel Fernandez

A simple description of the malambo would be the following: it is a Creole exhibition dance, typical of the Argentine gaucho, of a mysterious origin and traditionally individual and masculine.

The term "exhibition" -meaning that it has always been danced for people who are watching- distinguishes this dance from many other Creole dances, such as the zamba or the chacarera, which are performed as entertainment and eventually as a way of conquest. loving.

Its origin

The first testimonies about the malambo belong to travelers who traveled the Pampas plain and northwestern provinces and date from the last decades of the 18th century.

They were already talking about a challenge dance between two countrymen who took turns showing their skill in tapping.

The contest could last the whole night and the public was aware of those feet that brushed, crossed and arched.

Applause, shouts and bets accompanied the duel.

A chronicler claims to have seen in Bragado, in 1871,

.

There were also other variants, such as several malambistas that followed one after the other.

Agustín Visetti and his “removals”. Photos Emmanuel Fernández

As for the most remote origin, nothing is known.

, or from the effect produced by the rhythm of the horses with which the gauchos drove cattle over long distances.

They are all hypotheses, surely unprovable.

The most certain thing is that the Argentine malambo, defined by the great scholar Carlos Vega, is essentially a dance in which a performer makes a series of brief cycles with his feet called “mudanzas” on a minimal surface.

Each removal, as a small totality, also contains several internal rules;

for example, that one foot remains almost immobile and even still and the other develops a rhythmic game with relative freedom;

then the action is reversed.

This formula is valid until today.

Mauro Dellac, last malambo champion at the Festival de Laborde.

For a minimum vocabulary of malambo, it is necessary to retain the term “mudanza”, equivalent to the combination of figures with the feet, and “routine”, as the entire choreography is called.

And also the “southern style”, the oldest, which is danced with colt boots, chiripá and sifted underpants;

and the “norteño style”, whose attire consists of gaucho panties, strong boots, shirt and jacket.

The southern style is slow and sober.

The northern, vigorous and sonorous.

Marcos Vázquez, exponent of the northern malambo and runner-up in this 2023.

The women and the malambo

Although the malambo from its origin is defined as a masculine dance, and that is its most widely extended practice today, the young dancers who practice it have reproduced themselves exponentially in recent times.

In 2018 and 2019, the first two editions of the National Women's Malambo Championship were organized in Carlos Paz, and it was launched again at the end of 2022.

Women who do malambo.

Micaela del Río, barefoot, 2019 Malambo Champion.

Certainly, in folklore schools malambo is taught to both men and women, and since many of them later dedicate themselves to teaching, they do not always have a partner to deal specifically with malambo.

There have always been women fans of tap-dancing and there is a particularly eloquent case: in 1994, Fernando “Indio” Rossi from the Pampas was elected National Champion at the Malambo de Laborde Festival and was prepared by his fellow native Ana Domínguez, who knew a lot about malambo southern.

In an interview published in this medium in 2021, Ana Domínguez said: “It seems to me that the female malambo should not be a replica of the male malambo, and perhaps it has yet to be born.

The woman is a mother, she has ridden a horse from the side, she has collected the fruits of the piquillín and the carob tree.

There are very vigorous women, but the man has another energy, another image”.

the malambo show

There have, of course, been malambo for-export demonstrations for many decades, highly sought after shows in amusement parks and night spots in Europe, the United States and more recently in Far Eastern countries and the United Arab Emirates.

But let's go further back: it was Santiago Ayala, the Chúcaro, who first introduced the malambo with boleadoras.

Norma Viola and Santiago Ayala, El Chúcaro.

An inescapable couple of our folklore.

/ Clarín Archive

The malambista Naldo Pérez (also mentioned below) had the opportunity to see the Chúcaro in these demonstrations of supreme skill that is the handling of boleadoras, a weapon of war and hunting of the first inhabitants of these lands.

With this he put together a picture –but not yet with dance- that he included in his shows.

Naldo Pérez remembers: “He is the only guy that I saw who used the real boleadoras, made of three round stones.

Not like now, when they are made with a rope and some plastic balls”.

And he adds: “More than once I heard Santiago Segundo Escipión Ayala – that was his full name – comment that he had regretted having later put the boleadoras in the malambo.

He said that without a doubt he preferred the southern malambo, but that he had to live!

Santiago Ayala, the Chúcaro

, used to tell the following anecdote: “I was abroad, and I ran into a local who advertised “Folklore Argentino”.

I go in, I sit down.

A young lady with boots and a poncho appears.

She starts tapping and at one point she takes off her poncho and is completely naked.

I covered my face.

I didn't want anyone to recognize me and accuse me of all the crazy things that were being done with the malambo”.

Malevo, the "for-export" group.

El Chúcaro had invented the malambo with boleadoras during the time he worked in Buenos Aires revue theaters.

It was his way of competing with the opulences of the vedettes.

The malambo for-export has experienced a great expansion in recent times with companies like

, which has a considerable international presence.

His rock aesthetic, with wet hair, open shirts and leather vests, is the cover of a very basic tapping exalted by the thunder of the drums, the blinding lights and the intense volume of the music.

The edge

And then there is the genuine malambo, which can be discovered in its vast richness and its many subtleties when you meet the Festival de Laborde.

In this small town in the southeast of the province of Córdoba, a festival has existed for 55 years that brings together various folkloric items, but whose fundamental line is the malambo.

It is a non-commercial festival in which many of the town's inhabitants collaborate and delegations from all over the country come with artists, largely non-professionals, who won in pre-selection instances from their places of origin.

There are no financial rewards for the winners, no comfortable accommodations, and no tourist attractions in this town on the gringo pampa, scorched by the January sun.

However, none of the participants seem to care.

The 2022 Malambo National Festival, in Laborde, had Sergio Zalazar from San Juan as its champion.

Photo Courtesy Festival

It is undoubtedly the Laborde Festival, transformed into a vital destination for folkloric dancers, which

in provinces where there was no solid development of this dance.

Over time, this meeting, which began modestly within a popular library, has come to have a national scope.

Today malambistas from absolutely all the provinces of the country appear.

When at the beginning of the festival there were only a handful of them that arrived at Laborde, each malambista could tap for as many minutes as he wanted;

but later, the duration of his removals was necessarily shortened so that each evening lasted a reasonable time.

an infinite creation

The Malambo de Laborde Festival is a serious custodian of folkloric traditions.

But if someone believes that the malambo is a species frozen in time and does not admit of any renewal, they are wrong.

Actually, it is exactly the opposite.

From those remote hauls between anonymous gauchos in dimly lit grocery stores to today's young aspirants, what audiences and juries value are skill and imagination.

Roberto Ochoa from Chubut shone in 2020 in youth Malambo at the Laborde Festival.

Every “routine” we see on stage is the fruit of a malambist's inventiveness, of his ability to create beauty from extremely difficult technical mastery.

Those guys who prepare for a whole year and several hours every day to create a choreography that can't last more than five minutes, may never go on Laborde's stage.

Because among the thousands of malambistas in the country, the one who arrives there is because he won his province, leaving many others on the way.

Omar Fiordelmondo, who together with Héctor Aricó has been a member of the Festival's jury for more than twenty years, recently said:

. "

Javier Leiva, Cordovan and malambista.

There are, of course, basic elements that have to be there: the type and number of bars, the traditional clothing, the alternation of the figures from one foot to the other;

and obviously no stunts.

But from there upwards –says Fiordelmondo- there are no limits to creation.

Pictures

Along with the excellence of its artists, the Laborde Festival offers authentic characters, unique and passionate people: champions, experienced coaches, young champion hopefuls with the discipline of a samurai warrior.

Below are portraits of three champions from different eras.

Naldo Pérez (champion in 1976)

In his town of Lamarque, Naldo Pérez from Río Negro had learned some folkloric dances at the age of 16 and discovered that the zapateo was quite easy for him;

He then appeared at a preselection in Río Negro for the Cosquín festival and one of the judges asked him who taught him malambo.

"I search as I can," replied Naldo.

And that good gentleman, justice of the peace in Cipolletti, began to travel every fortnight to Lamarque, 250 km by motorcycle on a dirt road, to give him classes.

Naldo Pérez, about to tap his feet at the 1976 Labor Festival, when he won.

Naldo remembers: “This man only knew a few steps and since he didn't play the guitar, he accompanied himself by humming.

But he knew the whole story behind the gaucho ”.

Prepared like this, and after many hours practicing in front of a mirror, Naldo arrived in Cosquín and won twice, in '74 and '75.

In 1976 he won in Laborde: "I rarely name the Cosquín awards, because reaching the highest award in Laborde erases everything."

For more than forty years Naldo Pérez always returned to Laborde: many times as a jury and coach, more than four decades as a delegate for his province and also a winner in the categories of soloist and gaucho reciter: "Going back to Laborde became a vice".

His long experience has allowed him to formulate some criticisms.

In an interview from several years ago he said: “In the early days you could tap your feet for as long as you wanted.

Later, a duration for the choreography was established and in this way the speed of the “routines” changed, in order to include more figures in less time.

Thus something was lost: before you saw a malambista and you could retain figures for the delight of the eye.

Now there is so much speed that certain things, even for one who knows, are lost.

Fortunately, it doesn't happen with everyone."

“On the other hand, some guys started training in an alarming way;

they come with a “personal trainer”, they jump rope, lift weights, prepare like for a marathon.

For me, if you don't smoke or drink or stay up all night, it's not necessary”.

To the question “What is the difference between a shoemaker and a malambista?”, Pérez answers: “The first is the one who has the facility to copy other people's moves.

The malambista is a creator, an artist;

someone who barely enters the stage already realizes that something is going to happen”.

Pablo Sabalza (champion in 1991)

Pablo Sabalza, from Santiago, is the son of Roberto “Piri” Sabalza, one of the most important promoters of the Festival and champion in 1970. Pablo first came to Laborde when he was still wearing cloth diapers and he never stops going.

He won in all categories since he was a child, he was delegated by his province, trainer and jury.

He says: “Laborde, the homeland of the Festival, needs malambistas with commitment.

It's not about you winning a year and then forgetting about it”.

Pablo Sabalza, from Santiago and Champion of Malambo in 1970.

It is not his case, evidently: “I stop thinking about the malambo only when I sleep;

my wife is malambo, my house and the barbecue area of ​​my house are malambo”.

His career began when he was eleven years old in an area of ​​one hundred inhabitants in the interior of Santiago del Estero.

His father had brought him the boots and the suit that Pablo used for the carnival parades and had asked him to dance his feet that night.

To appear in his first Laborde, in the children's category, his father prepared him.

He then continued to do it alone.

When he reached the age of 18, his aspiration was to win as a national champion and his commitment was even greater: "I remember that he created the figures in an empty theater in the capital Santiago, which was even scary due to the silence and mystery ”.

One day his father told him: "Go see Don Carlos Saavedra, who will surely teach you something that will captivate the public and the jury."

Pablo, who was a somewhat rebellious boy, answered him: “What is Don Carlos going to teach me;

he is not a malambista, he is a dancer ”.

Pablo continues: “But finally I go to his house, he lets me in and while his wife prepares the mate, Don Carlos looks at my removals.

'Adela,' he says, 'come to see what beautiful removals'.

After a while he stops and shows me one.

I baptized it 'La Carlos Saavedra'.

It was the one that the public applauded the most in Laborde”.

Sebastián Sayago (malambo champion in 2013)

Sebastián Sayago, also from Santiago, entered early into the harsh demands of training as a malambi player.

But the malambo entered his soul -he remembered it with these words- when he went to Laborde for the first time at the age of eleven.

Sebastián Sayago was a malambo champion a decade ago, in 2013.

Then he began to dance show folklore on luxury cruise ships and thus traveled the world.

However, she did not stop, by himself, preparing her malambo and returning to Laborde simply for the fun of it.

He only appeared as a contender for champion in 2010, but he did not reach the final instance and the same thing happened in the following years.

“The cruises opened my head in many ways -he says-, but they also confused me, moving me away from the stomping Sebastián Sayago.

Some people told me that maybe I had to leave the ship, stay in Santiago and just prepare my malambo;

go back to the dirt patio, talk to my grandfather and meet the monkey that he had been”.

So it was.

He worked two months on the cruise to raise the money that would allow him to live the rest of the year and he settled in Santiago.

He was first runner-up in Laborde and, in 2013, champion.

“I prepared with Daniel Paladea, Pablo Sabalza's assistant, the malambo that I presented at Laborde.

We both thought about going back to a very Santiago malambo;

I always liked those changes rich in movement and sound of the old champions of Santiago.

I would ask them to give me some “change” and what they gave me I made mine, my own.

My malambo was not that new, but it was very Santiago.

Maybe simple, but with feeling”.

Now Sebastián lives part of the year in Tennessee, United States -where he formed a folklore company with his American wife-, and another part of the year in Santiago del Estero.

He always returns to Laborde and prepares young malambists.  

POS

credits

TEXT / Laura Falcoff

EDITING OF TEXTS AND PRODUCTION / Pablo O. Scholz

PHOTO EDITING / Cecilia Profético

PHOTOS / Emmanuel Fernandez

VIDEO / Clarín audiovisual equipment

INFOGRAPHIC / Vanina Sánchez

DESIGN / Tea Alberti

look also

The story of Mauro Dellac, the new malambo national champion: from Maquinista Savio to Osaka

The era of leather, with the malambo in the center